There always has been a need for better supporting structures and several factors have cooperated in increasing the need for more rigid supporting structures that will stand up under all kinds of foreseen and unforeseen conditions.
By way of example, more and more electronic and computer equipment is being located on a so-called computer floor under which all kinds of cables and other conduits run back and forth. Reference may in this respect be had to materials by UNISTRUT CORPORATION, including a leaflet entitled SUPER HEAVY DUTY ACCESS FLOOR (November 1988) and showing an isometric view of a raised floor support system, and a brochure entitled ACCESS FLOOR SYSTEMS (May 1989).
Reference may also be had to publications of C-TEC, INC., including a brochure entitled INNOVATIONS IN ACCESS FLOORING (1988), a leaflet entitled Surfacing for Access Floor Systems (August 1989), and a flier entitled Air Flow Access Flooring Panels (1989).
Reference may further be had to materials of USG Interiors, Inc., including a brochure entitled General Office Applications (1989), and a brochure entitled Access Floor Systems (January 1990).
These prior-art efforts appear to have a design in common in which arrays of floor stringers are supported by an array of spaced single-leg pedestals.
By way of further background, preservation of electronic equipment during earthquakes and aftershocks for the. maintenance of communications and other purposes is a major concern of earthquake preparedness. Indeed, alleviation of damage and suffering depends to a large extent on the maintenance of the telephone system and broadcast facilities, to name two examples.
With the introduction of electronic and fiber optic telephone switching equipment, the density of calls being handled in one equipment rack or network bay has advanced significantly. Today as many as 20,000 telephone lines could be interrupted with the loss of one bay of equipment. This has made the reliability of telephone switch equipment and its supporting structure critically important. Concern for earthquake protection of this equipment has become very important.
Similar concerns have arisen in the private and public utility field, where generating and electric and gas supply systems should continue to be operative in the wake of earthquakes and other calamities. In that respect, there is even a concern that damage and injury may come from power generating or supply equipment that may, for instance, break up if not rigidly supported during earthquakes and other dangerous incidents.
Moreover, the access flooring itself can constitute a danger, if it should break up and thereby prevent or endanger an escape of people from an endangered or damaged room or building.
There also is a need for rigid supporting structures, such as in raised floors or access floor systems, for the type of earthquake braced racks disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,107, by Richard W. Sevier and James J. Keenan, issued Apr. 2, 1991 to the common assignee hereof.